BLOOMSBURG - It really wasn’t that surprising that Valley View and Northwestern were locked in a pitcher’s duel for much of their PIAA quarterfinal game at Central Columbia High School.

Northwestern’s Emma Freeman and Valley View’s Abby Call are two of the stronger pitchers in the tournament, and they showed off their skills Thursday afternoon until the Tigers broke through for a two-out, five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to beat the Cougars 6-1.

Call’s momentum was interrupted by a fielding error in the bottom of the third that brought Abby Dunstan to the plate with runners on first and second. Dunstan made the error hurt when she grounded a ball through the middle to bring home Sage Toman for a 1-0 lead.

Third baseman Ella Swingle, who made the error, got a little revenge when she delivered an RBI double in the top of the fourth to tie the game 1-1.

After giving up the RBI double, Freeman would go the rest of the way giving up just a sixth-inning single and recording five of her six strikeouts from that point on. Call also settled in after surrendering the RBI single to Dunstan and retired the next seven batters.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, the sophomore duo of Lily Kinnon and Ella Bressi went to work as the contest became a game of inches.

Kinnon came to the plate and found an open spot just beyond second base for her first hit of the game. Bressi then delivered a perfect bunt to move Kinnon into scoring position.

A wild pitch moved Kinnon to third ahead of Rylee McGinley working a walk. McGinley isn’t one to hang around on first base for long if second base is open, so she stole her 15th base of the season to give Northwestern runners on second and third with two outs and the game tied at one.

“When I reached first base, I knew we were going to score because everybody coming up behind me is great at putting the bat on the ball, and I knew we were going to do something good there,” said Kinnon.

“We played really well defensively, and then we got the bats going in that inning.”

Toman and Izzy Akelaitis are the lone seniors on the Tigers, and they both know that one loss ends their high school career.

Toman used it as an incentive in the opening round of states, and she did it again when she grounded a ball that barely avoided the glove of Swingle as she dove into the hole. The hit brought in two runs, and Toman wound up at second on a throw to the plate.

Akelaitis looked to make sure that her senior season was extended when she delivered a mirror image of Toman’s hit with the ball inches away from the tip of first baseman Zoie Krupovitch’s glove to bring in her classmate and make it a 4-1 lead.

Dunstan is still just a sophomore, but she wasn’t going to be left out of the fun. Call delivered a 3-2 pitch that the Tiger catcher jumped all over, lifting it high in the air to center field. The ball carried over Eva Canevari’s head, landing five feet on the other side of the fence, giving Northwestern a 6-1 edge.

“I really wasn’t sure if it was [a home run] when I hit it, but I hoped that it was,” said Dunstan with a laugh. “We can hit throughout our lineup and hitting is contagious, so as soon as Lily got that hit, we just went on a roll. You can’t count us out when we get into a two-out situation, no matter what.”

Freeman turned the seventh inning into a formality as she got a strikeout and two ground outs to finish off the Cougars.

“I felt really good about how we were making contact throughout the game against a really good pitcher, and I just thought it was a matter of time because we were knocking on the door and eventually we would string something together,” said Northwestern head coach Kate Farber.

CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN … In each of the last two seasons, Blue Mountain denied Northwestern a District 11 championship - beating them in the district finals. The Eagles also defeated Northwestern 7-0 in last year’s PIAA semifinal game. Well, guess who Northwestern plays next? The Eagles and Tigers play in Monday’s semifinal game.

POSTSEASON SUCCESS … Dunstan is now hitting .700 (14-20) in the postseason with two home runs and 11 RBIs, while Freeman is 5-1 with a 1.63 ERA in the playoffs.

Valley View 000 100 0 - 1 4 3

N’western 001 005 x - 6 8 0

Call and A. Stafursky; Freeman and Dunstan. W - Freeman. L - Call. HR: Northwestern - Dunstan (6th, one on).